1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a stand for supporting objects and, more particularly, to a display stand for displaying hanging merchandise, especially multiple objects of substantial weight and/or bulkiness.
2. Description of the Related Art
Display stands made of metal are commonly used in stores to reliably support merchandise for display. The merchandise is placed on metal shelves or in inclined compartments or is suspended from hooks or pegs which are securely fixed to the metal stands.
As advantageous as these metal stands are, they are either permanent, built-in installations or not readily movable from place to place. As a result, display stands made of a foldable sheet material, especially corrugated board, have been increasingly used, primarily because the corrugated board stands are lightweight, easy to transport, simple to assemble and, in some cases, automatically erectable, and readily discardable. Such corrugated board stands can be printed with graphics and artwork descriptive of the product on display and can be transported and positioned virtually anywhere. Corrugated board stands have been designed with horizontal shelves, inclined compartments and elongated pegs to support the merchandise and are favored in stores, such as supermarkets, department stores or warehouse stores where there is a heavy turnover of merchandise and versatility in presenting merchandise is desired.
Some merchandise of a bulky nature, for example, backpacks and luggage, and/or of a heavy nature, for example, winter clothes, are hung in quantity from long rods supported horizontally on corrugated board stands. The rods are inserted through a hole in a single panel of the stand, or through a pair of aligned holes in two parallel panels of the stand. The rods need to be long enough to accommodate multiple items of the bulky merchandise. However, the long rods and the heavy merchandise due to their combined high moment tend to tip the rods and the stands, thereby rendering the stands unsuitable for their intended purpose.